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Why Armpits Remain A Feminist Battleground

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Women go to great lengths to meet (oftentimes unrealistic) beauty standards imposed by society. Some are now even microwaving their armpit hair.

The FDA-approved procedure was created by Miramar Labs in a system called "MiraDry," which can also reduce underarm hair and sweat permanently, according to Racked. Since then, more than 40,000 people have undergone the procedure, Mona A. Gohara, M.D., a professor of dermatology at Yale, told Elle.

A photo posted by mollyluise? (@mollyluise) on Aug 7, 2014 at 3:05pm PDT

Women's health expert Jennifer Wider, M.D. explained to Women's Health that although the procedure is available, ladies should be wary of the microwave technology, considering that it's a newly FDA-approved product.

“The use of microwave technology has been established for sweating, and the safety and efficiency has been well-established,” she said. “But despite the FDA approval, there's not much long-term information and data on safety and efficacy for hair removal.”

Wider doesn't recommend her patients to the treatment, however, she said that anyone who is interested in the procedure should find an experienced and competent doctor to perform the procedure.

“Men have more freedom in terms of what to do with their bodies,” Ms. Xiao told the New York Times. “I’m not calling on everybody to grow underarm hair. I’m just saying if some people don’t want to shave, the rest of us should not think their underarm hair is disgusting, unhygienic, uncivil or not feminine enough.”

Famous women have also embraced this look. Earlier this month, "Girls" star Jemima Kirke made headlines for showing off her underarms at the 2015 CFDA Fashion Awards. When others took note of this, Kirke posted on Twitter: